


Riptide

by watergator



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s03e21 Same As It Never Was, F/M, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7947175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a terrible accident, Leo is left feeling guilty in a riptide of hurt - THREE SHOT</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riptide

From as far back as he could remember, Mikey had always looked up to Leo - like his role model, his goal, the person, or more specifically, the turtle, he wanted to be, and he would watch his older brother in training, soak up his moves, watch in awe at the things Mikey wanted to learn, to excel in, just like Leo.

They'd been through at lot, ever since they surfaced from the sewer them few years ago — they'd changed, they grown and they'd seen things that teenagers their ages should never of seen.

Leo had matured, from the dorky teenager who would sit crossed legged in front of the TV, eyes wide and mouth agape at episodes of his favourite space show, to the leader of a team; of their clan, that was willing to take down anyone who got in their way — sacrificing himself countless times to save his family, and that's what Mikey aspired to be like.

But when he noticed that his big brother was moodier than usual, more distant, and would be the last one to turn in for bed, Mikey began doubting if his big brother was all he'd seen him for.

And he would soon be proven right.

The empty feeling in his stomach was what woke him up, and when he realised that he was face down on the kitchen table, he made the shuffling footsteps to the fridge to end the grumble in his tummy.  
He swung the fridge door open, the small pocket of light bursting through the darkness, making the turtle squint slightly as his eyes adjusted to the new lighting.

When he could see again, he was met with a familiar face, and he wriggled a finger against her ice cream fur as he cooed,

"Hey kitty kitty kitty" he smiled, his voice still dragging onto the last bit of sleep, and he rubbed his eyes with a knuckle in attempt to rub the sleep away from them.

But when he blinked again, he saw that Ice Cream Kitty wasn't mirroring his loving look, her face was twisting into a frown and her chocolate paws were flailing around splattering into his freckled face, tongue poking out to catch the fallen dessert she was spraying around.

"What's wrong girl?" His voice was laced in concern, of what possibly could have upset his baby like this, and he reached out his finger again to give her a encouraging tickle under her chin, to which she hissed at,

"Easy girl" he spoke, standing on his tippy toes to rest his arms on the side of the fridge,

"Is it the pizza?" He asked, only to be given a swipe from her paws, strawberry ice cream splattering around the walls of the freezer,

"Okay," he mulled, thinking of what could be upsetting her, "is it the squirrelanoids?" 

Another splatter of frantic ice cream.

Then suddenly he thought,   
"Leo?" 

Ice Cream Kitty let out a low meow, almost as if she was trying to apologise, but neither of them had time to react when he swiftly slammed the door shut, flying off over the turnstiles, feet slapping against cold concrete, heart pounding in his chest.

Now was his time to be like like Leo.

He checked his T-Phone once, twice and three times for good measure, and breathed when he noticed that there was no missed calls or texts - everyone would've been asleep, and thankfully no one noticed that he'd gone off on his own.

He smiled proudly to himself when he stopped at Auman Chemicals - he'd managed to track down his brothers phone signal, and knowing Leo, if he was off sneaking around with Karai and Shinigami — this was where they'd most likely be, taking down goons and henchmen, like the hero he knew was his big brother.

He couldn't wait to see the look on Leo's face when he walked into the factory, telling him how he did this all by himself, how proud his brother would be of him.

He felt a swell in his heart at just the idea of it.

But little did he know that Leo, Karai and Shinigami was long gone, flipping over rooftops, smirking at their plan, unaware that the baby of the family, was walking right into their own disaster.

And when the room exploded, triggering off the other hundreds of bombs stuck to the walls and the floors and the ceilings, when the night sky light up with the redness that was powering and thrilling for Leo to see, when he watched the smoke rise up and burn into the city, he felt an excitement; a thrill like no other.

Until he heard the chime, the small vibration at his side, the text from Donnie that made his heart fly into his throat,

'Where are you?? Mikey's gone looking for you'

Karai and Shini were still celebrating giggles and hollers as they watched the flames engulf the building as it crumbled.

Leo's eyes darted across rooftop upon rooftop, desperate for Mikey to pop up, anywhere, but as the seconds ticked on and Karai laughed at the building which was now a pile of rubble on the floor, flames still roaring, Leo had a gut wrenching feeling that maybe his baby brother was in there.

His legs moved before his brain even registered what he was doing, and when he saw the Party Wagon and Raph and Donnie step out from it, it was like a cold knife had sunk itself into his chest, the feeling of letting them down.

He didn't even stop when the colour from their faces drained, the sudden realisation setting in of what had happened, and soon after not long, all three brothers were scrambling to the wreckage.

It was hot and Leo could feel the blisters form on his hands, bleeding and raw but the energy was surging through his body like a poison.

When Donnie pulled back a slab of rock, he hadn't meant to scream, but he did — escaping from his lips like a hot acid burning it's way through his body from the pits of his stomach, up his throat and up out his lips.

Raph ripped the stone with all the energy he had, all the energy he didn't know he had, his muscles protesting but the hot fury that was pumping through his veins stopped him from dropping the stone back onto his brother.

All three of them managed to fish an unconscious Mikey out from the rubble, and into the Party Wagon, laying him gently onto the seat.

All Leo could do was cry silently as the three of them drove off towards the sewer, he watched Karai and Shini disappear into the distance as he sped away, and drove into something more terrifying and more damaging than he could even imagine. Home.

It had happened so fast, they almost tripped when they ran into the sewer, screaming and screaming, and when Sensei emerged, ears flat and pale with worry, he shot Leonardo a glance, and it had that cold knife feeling to it.

And as Donnie had screamed for them to leave him alone, scrambling back to the lab where Leo knew Mikey lay, hurt — or worse, he didn't even have a shoulder to cry on, as he sat in the empty pit, like the shell of who he used to be.

It was a few hours later, Raph had been pacing around, calling April, calling Casey, crying down to phone to both of them, that was when Leo knew it was bad.

And when Raph sat on the floor, as distant to Leo as he could most possibly be, his breath hitched, and Leo watched his tough, fearsome brother sob his way through his pain.

Donnie and Splinter finally emerged for what felt like an eternity, eyes tired and raw, body trembling slightly,

"He's alive" Donnie managed to muster, and Raphs entire body sagged in a small sad relief.

Alive, Leo thought, didn't mean he was okay, there was a ice cold sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach when Splinter tiredly said,

"You may see him now"

The two brothers took the steps to the lair, and with each pace, Leo felt his heart become heavier in his chest, feeling like a small rock had replaced his heart, his lungs began to twist as the air became tight in his throat.

As he walked into the room he saw the familiar posters that hung on the wall along with the pictures of the four of them from what felt like lifetimes ago, the beeping of machines and Donnie's old computer that was hauled up on the desk, and then his eyes laid on the cot in the corner of the room, the wires that draped around him like spiderwebs, the soft blanket that was tucked up to his chin.

Mikey looked so tiny; he always had been; the smallest and little one.   
But Mikey was so much larger than life, and had more love to give than an ounce of his body, and Leo had always admired that. How full of love his tiny baby brother was.

He watched Raph move slowly over him, and at first glance the small figure in the bed look worse for wear; a gash on his face, littering of bruised on his face and arms, and Leo had a small sense that maybe Mikey was just lucky.

But he stopped.

His eyes trailed along the bruises of his left shoulder, a spectacular array of colours, but as he searched, his eyes stopped at the bloody, newly stitched stump above his elbow - just empty space where his forearm and right hand should've been.

He guessed that Raph noticed this at the same time because he managed to spit through gritted teeth,

"Just get out"

At first he stood, feet rooted to the spot, afraid that maybe if he moved he'd give into exhaustion and collapse - not knowing if that was a good or bad thing, he stayed where he was and let the silent tears roll off his cheeks, but Raph wasn't having any of it,

"Get. Out" his breathing was sharp and dangerous, and Leo actually felt intimidated, and with one heave he managed to slowly step out from the makeshift hospital room, into the pit, and collapse on the couch, screaming and crying all his distress into the pillow, soaking it with his hot salty tears.

But no one came.

There was no Splinter to give him advice, there was no Raph to nudge him on the shoulder, there was no Donnie to smile sympathetically at him, and there was no Mikey to brighten the room with his million watt smile.

There was no one but himself in this bloody nightmare that he'd created, not even Karai or Shini, the two people who he'd egged on, dragged them down into a new breed of horror he'd made, all for his own personal hell bent revenge.  
The same revenge that Sensei had so desperately tried to warn him about, the same one that was costing him dearly and the same one he would be paying for as long as he lived and for the rest of eternity.

No one but himself to blame.


End file.
